


Warrior of Others

by Lilymania



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, But I will mark them in individual chapters, But there are some original scenes too, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I tried to stay truthful to the book timeline, Pretty slow-burn, Remadora, Romance, Triggers include mentioning rape & past abusive relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-09-30 04:28:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17216999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilymania/pseuds/Lilymania
Summary: They are fighting for each other just as much as Remus is fighting for them to stay apart. They fight for others, too: friends, family, and the entire Wizarding World.Will they manage to find each other among chaos, death, and desolation?This is a Remadora fic, covering all moments from when they first meet to their deaths (or I may let them live, who knows).I've tried to adhere to official guidance given by J.K. Rowling as much as possible but there is a lot of original content too.It is written completely from Remus' perspective.It is very slow-burn but there's a lot of fluff and little romantic moments and *a lot* of shipping.[Ongoing relationship between Remus and Tonks][English is not my first language so please be kind]





	1. When They First Met

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 1: 
> 
> When first meeting her, Remus is stunned by Tonks' cheerfulness and her curly pink hair.  
> When first meeting him, Tonks is not too impressed with Remus' preoccupation with her appearance.
> 
> They are off to a bit of a rough start. 
> 
> This one's just a lot of fluff, really.
> 
> [Set around June 1995]
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the characters, settings, objects or anything else from the Wizarding World mentioned here. This work is merely a fan interpretation of Remus' and Tonks' story.

Remus was watching the scene in front of him unfold with a smile on his face. The Order hadn't come together to fight Voldemort in over ten years, and Remus had missed many of the familiar faces. Minerva McGonagall was back, whom he had last seen during his time spent teaching at Hogwarts. And then there was his best friend, Sirius, whom he had believed to be a traitor to his closest friends until he had knocked on his apartment door two nights ago and blown Remus' mistrust away with his charming grin and an incredible yet unbelievable story of what had happened to Harry Potter that night all that time ago.

Currently, Remus was sitting across from Sirius in the dusty kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place, his hands wrapped around a hot mug of firewhisky, awaiting for Dumbledore to start this first Order meeting he had called for so urgently. Sirius kept rocking his chair back and forth, throwing him nervous smiles ever to often. In the corner of the kitchen, Molly and Arthur were gesturing fiercely, Molly had put her arms on her hips, seemingly unhappy.

Dumbledore cleared his throat audibly and the kitchen fell quiet. "I am so happy for you all to be here tonight, and thank you for following my invitation so quickly, I know you must all be terribly busy." His eyes were twinkling above the rim of his glasses. "We have some urgent matters of great significance to discuss this evening but first I would like to express my gratitude to Sirius for offering us his house to set up headquarters here."

Sirius smiled weakly, and Dumbledore continued: "I know you must all be eager to get started but I believe we are still missing two members, Alastor you already know, and his protégée Nymphadora Tonks why you will all soon have the pleasure to meet." A low murmer spread across the room- new Order members were rare as they were usually hand-picked by Dumbledore himself. Remus was curious to find out who this new witch might be. 

"And I believe Molly has agreed to make us some dinner while we wait for their arrival", Dumbledore said happily, and Molly immediately hurried to fire the stove. Soon the kitchen was filled with fine smells of gravy and roasted vegetables. Remus could feel his stomach grumble. He hadn't had a full meal in Merlin-knew how long. Molly had just began to set the table with some of the dusty goblets taken from the even dustier cupboards of the kitchen, when a loud  _bang_ penetrated the kitchen walls from the hallway, and a startled female voice called out "Oh bloody hell, not again." 

Dumbledore and Minerva shared an amused smile across the wooden kitchen table and Remus got up to see what had caused the commotion outside. The moment he stepped out into the hallway, he was almost run over by flash of pink hair, and quickly wrapped his long fingers around the upper arms of a young witch that would have otherwise completely bellyflopped. He helped her straighten herself and was met with a wide grin and a heart-shaped face framed by flamboyant pink curls. 

"Sorry about that", the witch beamed, "it happens a lot, unfortunately. I'm Tonks by the way." She had offered him her right hand but Remus was too perplexed he could only stare at her, taken aback a little by her sudden cheerfulness and her curly pink hair. "Oh, alright-", she said as the smile was wiped from her face. She threw him a slightly disappointed glance before entering the kitchen. 

Moody patted him on the shoulder and grunted: "It does happen a lot, actually." He shook his head in put-on annoyance. "Sometimes I don't even kno' why I took her in at all. Thanks for helpin' her up, Remus." Remus grinned: "It's good to see you too, Alastor." "Hmph", Moody said, "shall we proceed to the kitchen then?"

The two men returned to take their seats at the long table. Remus noticed that the pink-haired witch was now sitting across from him, involved in an eager conversation with Sirius. Dumbledore cleared his throat a second time and the room fell silent again. "I see that we are now complete. May I introduce you all to our newest Order member, Nymphadora Tonk-" He could barely finish his sentence when she had already interrupted him: "Please don't call me Nymphadora, it's just Tonks." After a beat of silence, she added dryly: "Sorry, professor." Dumbledore only smiled and Remus could hardly suppress a smile of his own. He liked her already. She was so ...  _bright_ , and full of colours. 

"Alright, Tonks. As I was saying earlier, we have a lot of important information to discuss. Voldemort has made an unfortunate although not too surprising comeback and I fear that we might currently be the only force standing in his path of destruction. After all", he sighed, "the Ministry still refuses to accept that he is, indeed, back ... in the flesh, so to speak. Right now our priority needs to be protecting Harry so I ask you all to participate in rotating guard duties while I work on a plan that's a little more ... tangible."

There were a few nods from people at different parts of the table as Sirius looked on, seriously unhappy. The rest of the meeting went smoothly, or as smooth as wartime plans ever could be. While Dumbledore explained the logistics of his plans, Remus found himself frequently glancing over at the witch that had introduced herself as Tonks. She was listening attentively but he could not fail to notice the small looks she was giving Sirius ever so often.

After Dumbledore had wrapped up the meeting, Molly distributed her pleasantly smelling food, letting small dumplings buzz through the kitchen with her wand, gently dropping them on plates around the table. Chatter broke out up and down the table as Order members caught up on years of life stories. During the entire duration of the dinner, Tonks was involved in a deep conversation with Sirius, only interrupted by the occasional burst of laughter.

Their looks only crossed once and Remus offered her a quick smile in retribution for his dumbfounded reaction in the corridor, but she merely crinkled her nose and continued her conversation with Sirius. Remus smile fell. Apparently she had taken his staring personally. He would have to remember to apologise to her later.

After the meal was completed, Order members started excusing themselves to return home to their families or complete pieces of work. Remus stayed behind, hoping to catch Tonks at a more quiet moment to offer his apologies. Finally there were only Tonks, Sirius, and himself left standing in front of the fireplace that Sirius continuously fed with small parchments of paper he was ripping out of an old book. "My family history", he declared, grinning. "It deserves to be fired up."

"Am I in there too?", Tonks asked curiously.

"Why would you?" Remus hadn't meant to be rude but somehow the words had come out of his mouth all wrong. She looked at him, clearly taken aback.

"Oh, Moony", Sirius laughed, "did nobody tell you? Nymphadora and I are distant cousins." Remus had indeed not know that.

"Hey!", she exclaimed, her hair suddenly shifting from the bright pink to a vibrant dark red, "don't call me Nymphadora, Sirius!"

Remus couldn't help but stare again. "How-?"

"Oh", Tonks smiled brightly, "I am a metamorphmagus." Remus was intrigued, to say the least. He had never met a metamorphmagus in person before.

"I believe Dumbledore mentioned that you are an auror", Remus said carefully, attempting to compensate for his rather unwelcoming attitude earlier.

"Yeah, I am." She shook her head and her hair transformed back to its original pink colour. Remus watched transfixed.

"That must be very helpful for your job", Sirius said, and then tapped him on the back. "You can stop staring now, Moony." Remus could feel embarrassment brightening his cheeks.  _She must be thinking I am a total lunatic because I can't stop staring at her. So much for compensation_. 

"It is", she said excitedly, "I never have to use potions or spells to change my appearance, it's saved my ass more than a few times to be honest."

Remus coughed slightly. "I better be going", he said. "Already?" Sirius seemed stunned. "But you've just arrived and there's so much we need to talk about." 

"Yes, but I believe we will now be seeing a lot of each other, Padfoot. Please excuse me, Sirius, Tonks." Tonks was looking at him narrow-eyed, clearly not impressed.

As Remus fled the kitchen rather unceremoniously he could only think about why it seemed to matter so much anyway what Tonks thought about him. 


	2. When he first thought of her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2:
> 
> When meeting for the second time, Remus finally gets his chance to apologise to her.  
> When meeting for the second time, Tonks finally gets the opportunity to clear up that misunderstanding between them.
> 
> When seeing them both together, Sirius can't help but tease them a little. 
> 
> More fluff. 
> 
> [Set around June 1995]
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, the characters, settings, objects or anything else from the Wizarding World mentioned here. This work is merely a fan interpretation of Remus' and Tonks' story.

The next few days went by without news from the order. 'Harry duty' was set to start the following week and so Remus had spent the majority of the week in his rather dark basement apartment. Truth be told, he had been thinking quite a lot about a certain pink-haired witch - with little else to distract his thoughts from wandering back to their first encounter time and time again.

Replying their first meeting in his head was painful. She had been so ... enthusiastic and he had been ... rude. Dumbfounded, really, but it had definitely come across as rather disrespectful. Oh god, he sincerely hoped she hadn't taken personal offence. It had not been his intention to come across as critical of her appearance. She must surely get a lot of inconsiderate looks for her hair which he, to his own surprise, found quite endearing.

It was around midday that Remus heard an owl clattering outside his window. It was a rather tiny specimen, with disproportionally big brown wings. He snatched a small letter from the owl's beak and ruefully carried it back to the only window in his apartment. He felt the need to apologise: "Sorry, but I don't have any food for you." The owl screeched loudly before flying off into the warm summer air.

Remus opened the letter and read

 

Moony,

Dumbledore has called for a meeting tonight at 7 o'clock, you know where.

We have a lot to talk about so don't you disappear on me again!

Destroy this note immediately.

Stay safe!

Padfoot

 

Remus smiled to himself. All those years in Azkaban had not left too great a lasting impact on his friend, although the tell-tale signs were visible nonetheless. Remus' thoughts wandered back to Tonks:  _Was she going to be there too?_

Realising that he was thinking of her  _again_ , he sighed and let the letter be consumed by fire with a simple spell. 

At exactly 7 o'clock that evening, Remus entered 12 Grimmauld Place and was imminently greeted by Walburga Black's high-pitched screaming: "... dishonour! Blood traitor! Filthy half-breed! Dirty shape-shifter!" Remus hurried down the corridor, past an embarrassing looking Tonks who had clearly just stumbled over that infamous troll leg, and hastily pulled the curtains over the life-sized painting, muffling her screams.

Upon turning around to face her, the dim corridor suddenly feeling awfully quiet and Remus noticed how close they were standing. Remus swallowed and stepped back to establish a respectable distance between them. He noticed that today she was wearing waist-long, straight blonde hair and that the pink had vanished completely. It looked ... _emptier_ , less like her vibrant self. 

"Well ... thank you", she said and grimaced. She turned around abruptly - almost falling over her own feet and Remus could see her blushing - before stalking down the corridor towards the kitchen. It took Remus a few seconds before realising that he should probably say  _something_ this time. He called out her name, his voice sounding weirdly raspy. 

She stopped and turned, eyes narrowed. He followed her down to the end of the corridor. "I am very sorry about our first meeting", Remus began, "I know I was being rather ... abrupt and I meant no offence. I would be very glad if you could forgive me." He offered her a short reassuring smile. Tonks was still looking rather stiff so he offered her his hand and to his immense relief, she took it, a subtle grin spreading across her face. "Thanks", she said. "I appreciate that."

"I don't think I've formally introduced myself", he continued. "I'm Remus." She shook his hand, her fine fingers feeling tiny inside his hand.

"I know", she grinned, "Sirius has told me so much about." He could feel his face hardening and his stomach churning.  _Did she know-?_ This was always the part he dreaded the most - having to tell a new Order member about his condition. His proclamation was inevitably followed by smiles becoming less warm, handshakes becoming less firm, and offers to share Order missions much less frequent.  _Maybe that's why she had been looking at him weirdly_ , he thought.  _But she probably wouldn't be here right now - alone none the less - if she already knew_ _,_ he then reminded himself. 

"Oh- he has?", he replied, dodging any response that could potentially reveal that his mouth suddenly felt very dry and that his hands were shaking. He stuffed them into the pockets of his dusty robes. 

Suddenly, laughter erupted from the open kitchen door and he jumped at the chance to escape their delicate situation before he could mess up again: "Shall we?", he asked. She smiled lopsidedly and nodded and they proceeded to the kitchen together. 

"Oi, Moony", Sirius yelled, the moment he laid eyes on him, and jumped up from his chair. "I can see you've picked up little Nymphadora on the way here", he laughed. Tonks opened her mouth to protest the maiming of her preferred name but Sirius quickly ruffled her hair, rendering her speechless for a moment. 

"It's not that bad a name, Nymphadora." She glared at Sirius and then turned to Remus for support. Remus, however, only shrugged his shoulders. "It's actually quite a lovely name", he said mildly. Tonks frowned at the both of them before taking a seat at the long table. Remus wondered why she hadn't protested the way she usually did. 

Sirius broke into husky laughter, watching her pull an annoyed face before being approached by an excited looking Hermione. "She'll come around", he told Remus. Remus used the opportunity of Tonks being distracted by Hermione to pull Sirius aside, away from Tonks' prying eyes and ears. He lowered his voice: "What did you tell her about me?"

Sirius looked perplexed: "What are you talking about, mate?" 

"Well, she mentioned you had been talking .... about me. You didn't tell her about -" "Your furry little problem?" The Marauder looked almost annoyed. "She might be my cousin, Moony, but I _do not_ go walking around telling people about ... _that_. You know me better than this."

Sirius sounded seriously disappointed and Remus could feel guilt wash over him. "I didn't mean it like that, I just ... wanted to be the one to tell her." He bit his lip and stole a glance at her: "It's just- she's the only Order member that doesn't know yet and I-" Remus could tell that he was rambling in his attempt to offer Sirius a bit of honesty. A weird look had settled on Sirius' face, his eyes seemingly searching for some form of confirmation. Remus knew that look all too well and usually, it meant mischief at its finest. 

Finally, Sirius said: "She'll find out anyway, one way or another. So if it's really that important to you, you should talk to her soon." Remus nodded, staring at a spot just behind Sirius, deeply lost in thought: "I know." He sure as hell wasn't looking forward to _that_ conversation.

At that moment Molly interrupted their conversation by calling them from across the kitchen: "It's time for dinner, dears." A broad grin spread across Sirius' face and he patted Remus on the back. "Let's go eat, I've been starving all day. You can tell little Nymphadora later over a strong drink of firewhisky. She's an auror, she'll take it just fine, if that's what you're worried about."

Dinner went by without incident, granting him and Sirius a period of quiet contemplation on how much had changed since their time at Hogwarts. Remus forced himself to not look at Tonks making funny faces for Ginny and Hermione across from him, although he found himself being drawn back to their contagious laughter from time to time. It appeared that Hermione had approached Tonks just to ask her if she could pull a few faces for them. Tonks being Tonks, she had of course obliged and he found himself stirring his soup one too many times just to avoid looking at her.

Ginny's hysterical laughter was eventually interrupted by Dumbledore's arrival mid-way through dessert as he took it upon himself to fill them in on his plans for the upcoming weeks. "There's a shift at Malfoy Manor that needs to be covered tomorrow night", Dumbledore concluded and Remus immediately offered up his time. Simply the notion of having to spend more time in his basement without a soul to distract him seemed dooming. And, unlike everyone else, he had no work to complete and no family to return to. 

"I only have half a shift at the ministry tomorrow", Tonks said suddenly, "so I could join in if you'd like." Dumbledore looked amused and Remus finally mustered the courage to look Tonks in the eye. She offered him a half-smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sirius smirking at him. 

"It's settled then", Dumbledore agreed and then turned down Molly's eager attempt to have him stay for the second round of dessert. When it was time for the rest of the Order to leave, Tonks approached him, almost crashing into Kingsley on her way. She looked half-hesitant, half-expectant. During the course of the evening, she had morphed her hair into a blood-red shade that violently clashed with the light purple t-shirt peeking out from underneath her robes. Remus still missed the original pink.

"Remus", she said, smiling. "Nymphadora", he replied, nodding. She tilted her head and crossed her arms. "Not funny, Remus. I was about to say something nice but maybe you don't deserve it." He could hear in her voice that she was joking and yet his heart still skipped a beat. 

"Well, maybe it's worth it", he said, "but of course you could always still tell me about that original thought of yours."

"Stop fishing for compliments", she laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, six o'clock, and don't be late." She smiled at him and then left through the door and Remus' look followed her all the way down the corridor, grinning when she almost tripped over that troll leg again, and his eyes never left her figure until the door shut close behind her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, tips, corrections etc. would be appreciated!


End file.
